Our club meeting on Tuesday, April 13, had the theme of “Human Connections”. Juan Kong was back as a guest, and she was warmly greeted by our President Poorana. She was also drafted as Timer, jumping in a good toastmaster fashion and doing a professional job of it.
As Toastmaster of the Evening I explained the importance of human connections on our happiness, and I recommended a Tedtalk on positive aging: https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness
The Word of the Evening was Gregarious, meaning liking to be with other people : sociable.
The joke of the evening related to a special kind of social connection, marriage:
Kid: I heard that in some parts of the world a man doesn’t know his wife until they get married.
Dad: That’s true everywhere, son.
It was a special evening in that Poorana presented an advance project with a timing of 20 to 40 minutes: Innovative Planning #5-5 – Moderate a Panel Discussion. The topic was: Challenges in Public Speaking. The panel was make up of three club members , all of whom have been Toastmasters for over 10 years. (Jan-Philipp, Martin, and myself). I found this to be a great subject, and Poorana chose some great if challenging questions: Introverts vs. extroverts in public speaking / presentation of boring subjects to the audience / importance of voice in public speaking / Humor in public speaking / Importance of language proficiency in public speaking / dealing with blackouts in public speaking.
Poorana got helpful and appreciative feedback in a round robin evaluation. We recorded the panel discussion and are considering making it available on our club Youtube channel. I will let you know when it is available. Our guest Juan commented: “I have been richly gifted this evening, the panel discussion was like a workshop in public speaking”.
That’s all for now. Be sure and join us for our next meeting on April 27th.
Best wishes, Jeff
A snapshot from the meeting: